Riveter



Sept 22, I 925.

J. L. BERNARD RIVETER Filnd Jan. 23. 1924 2 Sheetg-Sheet '1 Sept. 22, 1925.

J. L. BERNARD RIVETEH Filed Jan. 23, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mm M ew WE J r H B. J

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Patented Sept. 22, 1925.

UNITED STATES JAMES L. BERNARD, OF BEAVER, PENNSYLVANIA.

RIVETER.

Application filed January 23., 1924. Serial No. 688,038.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs L. BERNARD, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Beaver, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Riveters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to riveters and like machines used in fabricating plate girders and similar structure, and more particularly to large stationary power riveters having a pair of spaced rigid jaws between which the work piece must be moved while being worked upon.

The object of the resent invention is to provide an im roveri and novel apparatus for and metho of supporting and conveying the work pieces throu h the machine while they are eing worked 11 on, whereby the use of large cranes and suc 1 supporting apparatus with their accompanying dangers are eliminated.

Another object is to provide a combination of apparatus conslsting of the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawings, igure 1 is an end eleration of a riveter having my invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is an isometric view of a riveting machine having my invention adapted thereto, and shows a irder with its forward end just started t rough the machine.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing the girder elevated b the hydraulic jack so as to permit the su stitution of a wide gage bug for the narrow age bug supportin Ilia forward end 0E1; e gir er.

I igure 4 is a similar view showing the rear end of the girder supported by the narrow gage buggy ready to pass through the machine.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the letter A designates the riveter as a whole, which is constructed in accordance with my Patent No. 1,463,146, dated July 24, 1923, and comprises rigid side jaws 2 and 3 s aced apart to form a passageway B for t e girders to be riveted. The jaws 2 and 3 are oined at their upper end by a suitable cross member 4, forming a closed riveter.

Heretofore, it has been the practice to support the girders or other articles to be riveted, either entirely by overhead cranes, or to suppor one end upon a suitable buggy and the other end by a crane, while the riveting operation was being performed. Such practice was unsatisfactory, since it did not furnish a solid support for the girder, and was dangerous, due to the fact that cables, slings and other parts of the crane supporting mechanism were liable to breakage.

In the present construction I provide a wide gage track 6 extending away from each side of the riveter, and a narrow gage track 7 which extends between the jaws of the riveter. The narrow gage track 7 is arranged in the center of and coextensive with the wide gage track 6. A pair of power buggies 8 and 9 are mounted to travel on the wide gage track, and a narrow gage idler buggy 10 is mounted to travel on the narrow gage track.

The wide gage bu gies 8 and 9 are adapted to support the girder on each side of the riveter, while the narrow gage buggy is adapted to support the girder between the riveter jaws. Each of the buggies 8 and 9 is provided with an electric motor 11 for propelling it and is also provided with adjustable struts 12 adapted to engage the sides of the girder to support it against transverse forces.

The riveter A is also provided with a transversely arranged supporting beam 14 supported at each end on the jaws 2 and 3 and carrying depending girder engaging arms 15, which are adjustable transversely to engage varying sizes of beams. The arms 15 are adapted to engage the upper flanges of the girder and thus prevent tilting thereof.

The narrow gage bu gy 10 is rovided with an inclined upper Face adapte to support a plurality of rollers 16, and a floating platform 17 having an inclined lower face is mounted on the rollers 16 so that if the forceapplied by the dolly 18 in riveting should force or move the girder sidewise, the platform 17 will move with the girder, and when the dolly 18 is retracted the platform 17 will return to its original position, thus preventing the forcing of the girder from the buggy.

A suitable hydraulic or other power jack 20 is mounted between the jaws 2 and 3 of the riveter to lift the girder during the change from wide to narrow or narrow to wide gage buggies. It will be understood, however, that a crane or other lifting element may be substituted for the jack 20.

In carrying out my novel method of handling a girder during the riveting operation with the above described apparatus the following steps are carried out-The girder is first arranged in line with the tracks 6 and 7, and the forward end of the girder is supported on the narrow gage buggy 10, while the rear end is supported on t e wide gage buggy 8. Power is then applied to the wide gage buggy to move the girder through the machine A, and after the girder has been moved forward so that its forward end projects through the machine a sufiicient distance to receive the wide gage buggy 9, the forward movement is stopped, and the jack 20 elevated so as to lift the forward end of the irder off the narrow gage buggy. With the girder thus elevated the wide gage buggy 9 is moved into position under tie girder and the jack 20 lowered so that both ends of the girder are supported by the wide gage buggies.

The wide gage buggies are each provided with suitable spacing blocks so as to support the girder in a slightly higher position than the narrow gage buggy 10, and so said narrow gage buggy is free to be moved lengthwise of the girder while the girder is supported by the wide age buggies 8 and 9.

After the wide age buggy 9 has been positioned and the orward end of the girder supported thereon, the girder will be again moved forwardly by applying power to either one or both of the buggies 8 and 9 until the buggy 8 comes into a position adjacent the riveter A, when the movement will be again stop ed, and the rear end of the girder will be t ien raised by the jack 20 so as to free the buggy 8 and the buggy 10, which has been previously moved to a position on that side of the riveter A, will be positioned under the rear end of the girder and the 'ack lowered so as to allow the rear end of t e girder to rest on the buggy 10. The girder is now ready to complete its passage through the machine A, and power will be applied to the buggy 9 to propel the girder through the machine. After the girder has passed completely through the machine the bug ies 9 and 10 may be used to convey the ir er away from the machine, or it may be ifted therefrom by a suitable crane as desired.

If found desirable, when constructing new riveting machines for use with the present invention, the jaws 2 and 3 may be spaced further apart so as to provide sufiioient room for the continuation of the wide ga e track 6 through the machine, and there y rovide for the passage of the wide ga e uggies 8 and 9 between the jaws 2 an 3 and eliminate the necessity for the narrow gage track 7 and buggy 10.

If the wide age track 6 is continued through the mac inc and the wide buggies 8 and 9 permitted to pass between the jaws 2 and 3, it will be only necessary to place the girder or other work piece on the buggies once and it will remain in position on the buggies until the riveting operation is complete.

The present apparatus and method have the advantage over the apparatus and methods heretofore used to support girders and the like while riveting, in that they provide a more firm and safe mounting for the girder and one that requires less labor and time and initial installation expense.

I claim 1. The combination with a machine for workin upon large girders and other large work pieces, of a wide gage track on each side of the machine, a narrow gage track within said wide gage track and extending through said machine, buggies on each of said tracks, the buggies on said wide gage track being power driven, said buggies being adapted to support the work piece, the wide gage buggies being adapted to support the work piece through the major distance of its travel on either side of the machine and the narrow gage buggy being adapted to support the work piece in its travel through the machine, and means for raising the work piece from said buggies to permit the substitution of one buggy for the other.

2. The combination with a machine for working upon large girders and other large work pieces, of a wide gage track on each side of the machine, a narrow gage track within said wide gage track and extending through said machine, buggies on each of said tracks, the buggies on said wide gage track being power driven,said buggies being adapted to support the work piece, the wide gage buggies being adapted to support the work piece through the major distance of its travel on either side of the machine and the narrow gage bug being adapted to support the Work piece in its travel through the machine, means for raising the work piece from said buggies to permit the substitution of one buggy for the other, and means on said wide gage buggies adapted toprevent tipping of the work piece.

3. The combination with a machine for working upon large girders and other large work pieces, of a wide gage track on each side 0 the machine, a narrow gage track within said wide age track and extending through said mac ine, buggies on each of said tracks, the buggies on said wire gage track being power driven, said buggies being adapted to support the work piece, the wide gage buggies bein adapted to support the work piece throng the major distance of its travel on either side of the machine and the narrow gage buggy being adapted to support the work piece in its travel through the machine, means for raising the work piece from said buggies to permit the substitution of one buggy for the other, and adjustable struts mounted on said wide gage buggies adapted to be secured against the sides of the work piece to prevent tipping of the work piece.

4. The combination with a power riveter such as used in fabricating girders and similar articles, having opposite spaced jaws between which the work piece is adapted to pass, of wide gage track extending away from each side of said machine, and a narrow gage track extending between the jaws of said riveter, said narrow gage track being within said wide gage track, a pair of wide gage power driven buggies on said wide gage tracks, and a single narrow gage buggy on said narrow gage track, and a power lifting element mounted between said jaws, the girder or other Work piece being adapted to be first supported at its rear end upon a wide gage buggy and at its forward end upon the narrow gage buggy until its forward end has passed through the machine, the work piece being adapted to be raised from the narrow buggy by said lifting element and said second wide gage buggy substituted for said narrow gage buggy, as the rear end of the work piece approaches said jaws said work piece is again raised by said lifting element and said nar row gage buggy substituted for said wide gage buggy under the rear end of the work piece to permit said rear end to pass between the jaws.

5. The combination with a power riveter such as used in fabricating girders and similar articles, having opposite spaced jaws, between which the work piece is adapted to pass, of wide. gage track extendin away from each side of said machine, anc a narrow gage track extending between the jaws of said riveter, said narrow gage track being within said wide gage track, a pair of wide gage power driven buggies on said wide gage tracks, and a single narrow gage buggy on said narrow gage track, and a power lifting element mounted between said jaws, the girder or other work piece being adapted to be first supported at its rear end upon a wide gage buggy and at its forward end upon the narrow gage buggy until its forward end has passed throng the machine, the work piece then being adapted to be raised from the narrow bu gy by said lifting element and said secon wide gage buggy substituted for said narrow gage buggy, as the rear end of the work piece approaches said jaws said work piece is again raised by said lifting element and said narrow gage buggy substituted for said wide gage buggy under the rear end of the work piece to permit said rear end to pass between the jaws, means on said wide gage buggies and means on said riveter for supporting'the work piece against transverse forces.

6. The combination with a stationary machine for working upon large girders and other large work pieces, of tracks extending in a direction parallel to the line of travel of the work pieces passin through said machine, and a plurality o buggies mounted on said tracks for supporting and conveying said work pieces through said machine, at least some of said buggies being power driven.

7. The combination with a stationary machine for working upon large girders and other large work pieces, of tracks extending in a direction parallel to the line of travel of the work pieces passing through said machine, and a plurality of buggies mounted on said tracks for supporting and conveying said work pieces through said machine, some of said buggies being power driven while others of said buggies are idlers.

8. The combination with a stationary machine for working upon large girders and other large work pieces, of tracks extending in a direction parallel to the line of travel of the work pieces passing through said machine, a plurality of buggies mounted on said tracks for supporting and conveyin said work pieces through said machine, an means for raising the work pieces from said buggies to permit the substitution of one buggy for another.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

JAMES L. BERNARD. 

